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8- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday November 18, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Emotional Kelly Amos bids farewell to board Former trustee incensed by political cartoon that appeared on website By Tim Whitnell SPECIAL TO OAKVILLE BEAVER Some outgoing trustees with the Halton District School Board took the high road while others took parting shots at their colleagues around the table as the current board of 11 trustees convened for the last time. There were tears from one trustee, upset with the campaign tactics of another trustee who defeated her in Monday's municipal election, while the chair of the board tried to downplay the impact of two factions of trustees at the board during the wrapup to a 4.5-hour final board meeting on Wednesday. An emotional Kelly Amos -- representing Oakville's Wards 5/6 -- had to compose herself several times as she made her farewell remarks. She expressed frustration with fellow trustee Bruce Jones who ran against her in this year's election and beat her by 169 votes. A red-faced Amos also vented her disgust with being portrayed in a political cartoon on Jones' campaign website. Amos did not mention Jones by name at any time during her remarks. Jones had won a trustee seat outside his ward in 2003 but ran in his hometown ward this time, in direct competition with Ward 5 resident Amos. "I don't feel discredited at all. I was out-marketed," she said. Amos was particularly incensed by a political cartoon that appeared on Jones' website, which was ultimately removed in early November. It depicted Amos and four fellow trustees -- Oakville's Mary Chapin, Burlington's Debbie Downs and Janie Hames and Halton Hills' Ethel Gardiner -- as dinosaur caricatures with a meteorite labelled "change" about to hit them. The outgoing slate of public board trustees have been viewed at times as a split group with six like-minded individuals on one side and five opponents on the other. When it was his time to make a statement at the end of Wednesday's Bruce Jones Kelly Amos Learn to Ballroom Dance with Let's Dance Burlington Let's Dance Burlington is a premier Ballroom Dancing Studio located here in Burlington. Our studio emphasizes teaching the highest quality ballroom dancing to students of all ages & levels. THE BASICS · Ballroom and Latin Private Classes for Children, Teens and Adults · Wedding Choreography · Competition and Social Dance Instruction SEMI-PRIVATE GROUP CLASSES ONGOING NEW STUDENTS WELCOME · · · · Mom's and Babies Ballroom Exercise Class Kid's and Teen's Ballroom Classes Future Steps for Kid's and Teens - Ballroom Instruction in the Schools Ballroom Line Dancing for all ages meeting Jones stated simply, "For those of you who are leaving us, good bye and good luck. For those who are coming to us, good luck." The next day Jones said he didn't think it appropriate to respond to Amos in her emotional state. "I understand she's upset and she lost (the election). It sounded like sore-loser syndrome to me. I don't have anything against Kelly personally; I don't even really know her." Jones said the cartoon was only up on his site for a couple of hours and that he removed it for another more innocuous one. The dinosaur image was done by a friend of his, he said. The plan was to post a different cartoon each day on his website. "It was more (for) a giggle. It gave me a bit of a chuckle.... If it needles the other side a bit, if it gets them off their game a bit, so be it," said Jones, adding he has been the target of unflattering remarks from some other trustees. Amos said Thursday that the dinosaur cartoon was on the site for a few days and that her face was also put on other cartoon images on Jones' site. "I think it was dirty politics and I wasn't going to sink to that level. I am very proud of what I have accomplished. I've always advocated for my students and voted with my conscience," said Amos. Board chair Paul Tate, the Milton trustee defeated by newcomer Donna Danielli on Monday, used some of his final words to slam critics who contend there was a 6-5 split that impacted voting at the board. He said that in the first year of their threeyear term there were many 6-5 votes but far fewer in the second year. "This is not a dysfunctional board, we had just two 6-5 votes in the last 24 meetings (year). I don't think people understand how well this board functions." Tate then appealed to everyone, including trustees, to support the work of education director Wayne Joudrie. He noted last week's visit by new provincial Education Minister Kathleen Wynne should help the board. "We have a renewed management team here. I am so happy. I can walk away from here and there will be no problems." He vowed to stay abreast of board matters. Tate also advocated on behalf of contract workers at the board. He said they should be able to take days off without being penalized or feeling they can't ask for a Friday off to observe special personal occasions. He said it's an issue of "humanity" at the board that shouldn't result in contract workers saying they are sick when they're not in order to get a day off. "We're saying to them, `Lie to us' and not have an honest relationship with them." Debbie Downs `bit her tongue' in her last remarks after six years as a trustee. "I decided to focus on the good only -- the bad and the ugly go without saying. I hope I have asked the challenging questions." To those newly-elected Downs advised them, "Respect your fellow trustees, be fiscally responsible. You don't always have to be in agreement but always do the best for the children of Halton." 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